HighPoint Advisor Group LLC Invests $615,000 in Ares Capital Corporation $ARCC

HighPoint Advisor Group LLC bought a new position in Ares Capital Corporation (NASDAQ:ARCC) during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund bought 30,391 shares of the investment management company’s stock, valued at approximately $615,000.

Several other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in ARCC. Partners Group Holding AG grew its position in Ares Capital by 4.8% in the third quarter. Partners Group Holding AG now owns 1,767,154 shares of the investment management company’s stock worth $36,068,000 after acquiring an additional 80,885 shares in the last quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Ares Capital by 33.9% during the third quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 275,891 shares of the investment management company’s stock valued at $5,557,000 after buying an additional 69,844 shares during the period. Investment Partners Asset Management Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Ares Capital during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $1,314,000. Prevail Innovative Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Ares Capital during the third quarter valued at approximately $1,430,000. Finally, Sound Income Strategies LLC boosted its position in shares of Ares Capital by 5.6% during the fourth quarter. Sound Income Strategies LLC now owns 2,616,789 shares of the investment management company’s stock valued at $54,691,000 after buying an additional 138,857 shares during the period. 27.38% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Ares Capital Stock Performance

Ares Capital stock opened at $18.78 on Thursday. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $18.49 and a 200-day moving average price of $19.56. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.13, a quick ratio of 1.40 and a current ratio of 1.40. Ares Capital Corporation has a fifty-two week low of $17.40 and a fifty-two week high of $23.42. The company has a market capitalization of $13.48 billion, a PE ratio of 11.52 and a beta of 0.58.

Ares Capital (NASDAQ:ARCC) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 28th. The investment management company reported $0.47 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.48 by ($0.01). Ares Capital had a net margin of 37.30% and a return on equity of 9.85%. The company had revenue of $763.00 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $778.00 million. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $0.50 EPS. The business’s revenue was up 4.2% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Ares Capital Corporation will post 1.91 earnings per share for the current year.

Ares Capital Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, June 30th. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 15th will be paid a dividend of $0.48 per share. This represents a $1.92 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 10.2%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, June 15th. Ares Capital’s payout ratio is currently 117.79%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

ARCC has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Oppenheimer dropped their target price on Ares Capital from $22.00 to $21.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, April 29th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their target price on Ares Capital from $22.00 to $19.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, March 13th. UBS Group dropped their target price on Ares Capital from $21.00 to $19.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, March 13th. B. Riley Financial dropped their target price on Ares Capital from $22.00 to $20.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, April 29th. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada dropped their target price on Ares Capital from $22.00 to $21.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, April 29th. Nine investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $20.75.

Ares Capital Profile

Ares Capital Corporation (NASDAQ: ARCC) is a publicly traded business development company (BDC) that specializes in providing debt and equity financing solutions to U.S. middle-market companies. As a BDC, Ares Capital offers investors access to a diversified portfolio of tailored credit investments, including senior secured loans, unitranche financing, mezzanine debt and equity co-investments. The firm’s flexible capital structures are designed to support companies seeking growth capital, refinancing or strategic acquisitions.

Through its credit platform, Ares Capital focuses on originations, underwriting and portfolio management across a range of industries, with a particular emphasis on sectors such as healthcare, technology, industrials and business services.